


Stupid Cupid, Stop Picking on Me

by woojaes



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels, Angels, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, M/M, Modern, Office
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25783318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woojaes/pseuds/woojaes
Summary: "So, let me explain how this works," Mark started. "It's not guaranteed. Donghyuck and I have powers that will help people get together but we can't force it. Free will, you know. We can alter reality and insert clues and plant evidence but we can't shoot arrows in their butts and that be the end."Renjun blinked. "I thought cupid angels have arrows, though."Donghyuck cleared his throat. Mark did too. "I've failed my Advanced Archery exam three times.""Me too," Donghyuck said quietly.The look that flashed upon Renjun's face was full of regret.Or alternatively: Mark and Donghyuck are cupid apprentices assigned to work on getting Jeno and Jaemin together while their mentors are busy on other cases. They get more than they bargained for.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 24
Kudos: 302





	Stupid Cupid, Stop Picking on Me

The email appeared in their inboxes first thing on Monday morning, subject titled " _URGENT: idiots in love_ ". Donghyuck had yet to finish his third coffee of the morning, but the exclamation point next to the subject glared at him like one of the red-eyed demons he sometimes encountered with seniors. The sender of the intimidating email – the CEO, Cupid himself – had addressed it directly to him and one other apprentice, another angel called Mark, completely bypassing their mentors, so whatever the content of this email was, it didn't sound pretty. Donghyuck took one long sip to finish the rest of his coffee and began to read.

 _Dear Mark and Donghyuck_ , it started. _With Valentine's season quickly approaching, our full-time Angels are very busy with assignments all over the country. Out of hours last night, a client submitted an urgent request for our services. As I'm sure you know, Taeyong and Johnny are both working on complex cases at present, so I am assigning this client to you both. It doesn't seem too complicated, but you will need to contact the client for more information first. I have attached the client profile for your attention. Please contact Taeyong and Johnny in the first instance if you have any questions. Kind regards, Cupid._

Donghyuck hovered his cursor over the pdf attachment, titled ' _Client Profile #4083_ '. Next to it was an image file, presumably a scan of the client's ID and signed consent form. He double clicked on both and waited for them to load.

In bold lettering at the top of the pdf was the client's name: Huang Renjun. He was 20, resided in Seoul and attended university there, and he needed help with getting two of his friends together. In his interview with the out of hours Client Liaison Team, he complained that his human friends Jeno and Jaemin were madly in love and it was, in quotation marks, "obvious as fuck". Donghyuck cracked a small smile at that.

The case seemed easy; two people already in love who just needed a push to get them together. In the angel world they called this a couple nudge (which, honestly, was a terrible name but it had already been established for decades so there was no hope of changing it) and Donghyuck had worked on a similar case before, though supervised by Johnny. Concluding that case, his assignments kissed in the rain on New Year's Eve and he and Johnny watched from under umbrellas, then the next day he submitted the case files for Johnny to review. The feedback he got from that assignment was excellent, so he had no doubt this assignment would fare the same, even if he had no guidance this time.

Donghyuck sent a reply to Cupid thanking him for the opportunity, and a separate one to Mark calling for a meeting to discuss the client profile. He got a reply from him not even five minutes later which read: _Sure thing! Skype, Zoom or Teams? :)_

Donghyuck prayed this would be over fast.

🏹

Mark looked far too awake for just after 8am on a Monday morning, while Donghyuck hoped that the yawns he covered with his right hand weren't a dead giveaway of how tired he was. He also wasn't wearing pants, like most days he worked at home, so he hoped that wasn't visible on camera either; if Mark caught a glimpse of his bare legs when he tilted his laptop screen to adjust the video, he said nothing about it.

"Hey," Mark greeted. "Good weekend?"

Donghyuck shrugged, "Alright, I guess. My roommate was up all night arguing with his girlfriend, so that was fun to overhear."

Mark fiddled with the end of his tie. This was another of their stark differences – Mark was actually dressed for work, like they were supposed to in case of emergencies. Donghyuck flattened the hood of his hoodie against his back and hoped his choice of attire (or lack thereof, at least) wasn't unprofessional.

"Sorry to hear that," Mark said. 

"It happens a lot, it's fine," he coughed. "Anyway, I was reading the client profile and it seems pretty easy. A basic couple nudge, I'd say ten days tops. We've got Renjun's address and phone number, he's been vetted by the Client Liaison Team and we have his consent to contact him so would you like to do that, or should I?" 

Mark blinked. "Um," he said. "I can do that, if you want. I don't mind."

"Okay, cool. I'll leave you in charge of that. We can meet him in person if he wants to arrange that, check my calendar and send me an invite for a date that's convenient. Remember to take along a secrecy agreement for him to sign, though."

Mark blinked again. "Okay, what will you do?"

Donghyuck clicked onto the pdf and scrolled to the bottom. It gave the names and descriptions of the two human friends Renjun had requested the services for, details of their daily routine and other information to identify them. He glanced between that and the video chat with Mark, skimming over the details. "I'll try and search for the others, Jeno and Jaemin. Apparently they also attend the same university as Renjun, I had an assignment there before so I know it pretty well."

Mark nodded this time and bent over, looking like he was writing something down by hand. 

"I think we should meet again in two days to check progress," Donghyuck suggested. "We can update the case file with anything in the meantime and send emails if we have anything to add. That sound good to you?"

Mark lifted his head and looked at the screen dumbfounded. "Oh," he nodded again. "Sure, that's fine with me."

"Great," Donghyuck said with a nod of his own head. "I'll speak to you on Wednesday, same time?" 

"Yeah–"

"Okay, awesome. See you then, Mark." 

"Bye–"

Donghyuck hung up the call and rubbed his eyes, elbows resting on the desk in front of him. A fourth and final coffee was calling his name, so he locked his laptop screen, kicked out of the seat he sat in, and shuffled to the kitchen to make one.

🏹

The best and worst thing about being under Johnny's mentorship was his laid back attitude. He was quite happy to take on some of the case work himself, leaving Donghyuck to do the admin jobs Johnny didn't have time for. It was great because Johnny didn't care that he wasn't properly dressed for work every day, or that he spent more time feeling tired than he did energised, but this was also his problem. Donghyuck liked shortcuts, and if there was an opportunity to do less work in less time, he was going to take it. 

Wednesday morning, Johnny sent him an email with the subject reading _'you're doing great_!' which was encouraging if not a little too peppy for Donghyuck's liking. He suspected Taeyong had asked him to send it, who always was one of the stricter seniors and probably the reason why Mark was so enthusiastic. He sat at his laptop at exactly 8am in a purple hoodie and no pants again, but Johnny's email gave him the impression he was being watched, so he quickly changed into a white button-up shirt and pyjama shorts, and made an attempt to style his hair.

Mark called as he settled back in his seat with a coffee.

"Good morning," he said. He smiled, bright and happy like he always seemed to be, and Donghyuck admittedly was a little blinded.

"Hey," he replied. 

"You decided to get dressed today?" 

"Only on Wednesdays," Donghyuck said. Mark smiled.

"You don't seem so tired today, either," he said. He leaned closer to his laptop screen so his face covered the entirety of Donghyuck's.

"Yeah, well, my roommate and his girlfriend are back in their honeymoon phase again. He spent the night at hers so I got plenty of sleep." 

"That's good, at least you got to rest," Mark said. He seemed genuinely concerned, so that was nice.

"Yeah," a pause. "How is our assignment coming along?"

"Oh!" Mark exclaimed, as if he had forgotten the reason for the video call in the first place. Donghyuck hid his smile behind a sip of scalding coffee. "Well, I got in contact with Renjun. We're meeting him tomorrow at 10 at his address so you have to put clothes on again, sorry about that, but he seems cool and he's fine with the secrecy thing. He won't tell anyone anyway, he just wants the mutual pining to stop. But we might have more of a challenge than we originally thought…"

Donghyuck internally sighed. Of course.

"They're in denial?" 

Mark's expression became solemn and he nodded. "And there's a third person. Jeno's ex. They broke up recently so according to Renjun, Jeno is guilty about moving on too soon."

Donghyuck hummed in thought. Flashbacks to his early Third Party Intervention and Dealing With Exes class whizzed through his mind. "So we have to get them out of the picture. Okay, that's fine. I'll look through the suitors list and find a new date."

Donghyuck clicked back to the case file on screen and read his notes aloud.

"I did manage to find their twitter and instagram accounts. Can confirm they are definitely in love with each other, it was disgusting to read it all and Renjun was right, obvious as fuck." 

Mark full-body laughed, complete with clapping and foot stomping. "You'd get in trouble for saying that if you were a heaven angel, you know."

"Thank the lord I'm not a heaven angel, then. I'd be dead already." 

Mark's laughter settled to a smile eventually and even Donghyuck had to admit it was infectious in the best way.

"So, tomorrow at 10? At Renjun's apartment?" 

Donghyuck checked his Google calendar. It was empty for the rest of the week. "Yep, tomorrow at 10. Remember the secrecy agreement." 

Mark paused for a moment, reached for something off camera and held up the piece of paper which he wiggled in his grasp. "I'm already prepared." 

Donghyuck put his thumbs up and ended the call, but only when the little light next to his webcam on the edge of his laptop went off did he allow himself to smile and shake his head. Mark Lee was without a doubt the most hardworking apprentice he'd ever met, probably even more hardworking than some of the senior angels in the business. He was certainly something. 

🏹

It was at exactly 9:45am that Donghyuck stood on his balcony, thought of happy things, and kicked off from the floor as two delicate gold wings burst from his back. He hovered for a moment, giving his wings time to adjust to the weight and the wind, then with a deep breath he ascended just enough to take him above buildings and around lone trees, avoiding the narrow streets too thin to fly properly. Other angels grazed low clouds in the sky with him, but too far away to be identified.

He was the first to arrive at Renjun's apartment building. He angled his wings down and floated to the ground, black shoes making contact with the gravel path that appeared to lead to a communal door. As he landed, a voice from above called his name. Mark's voice.

He came flying in from the opposite direction. While Donghyuck's wings were a warm gold that reflected the sun, Mark's were an icy silver that seemed to glitter the closer he got to the ground. He watched as they folded behind his back and vanished, just like his own, under his clothes. 

"Morning," he said. He was chirpy as usual.

"Morning," Donghyuck replied with not quite as much enthusiasm. 

Mark pulled a bag to the front of him and took out several pieces of paper, a notepad, pen and glasses that he perched on the bridge of his nose. Donghyuck blinked. Beneath the nerdy exterior he was actually kind of cute. There was a spring in his step, though, which Donghyuck grumbled at. He was putting his sleep-deprived shuffle to shame.

Renjun was eager. In fact, Donghyuck only pressed the doorbell button once before Renjun's voice filtered out from the speaker seconds later.

"Hello?"

"Hi," he replied. "Cupid's Angels, I'm Donghyuck and this is Mark."

The door clicked open without another word from Renjun, so they shared a look and made their way in. He lived on the sixth floor and a sign on the elevator said it was out of order, which drew a long sigh from Donghyuck. Mark patted his shoulders with a laugh (he momentarily thought about reporting him to Taeyong for inappropriate touching in the workplace, but thought better of it) and began the twelve-flight ascent so Donghyuck had no choice but to follow him, though he made his annoyance quite clear.

"You're such a baby, it's not even that many stairs," Mark pointed a finger at him when they reached the sixth floor, his lips curled into a hidden smile. "You skipped your cardio classes, didn't you?" 

Donghyuck chose not to answer that. It was blaringly obvious anyway.

"Shut up, Mark, just go to the door." 

Donghyuck almost leapt forward to guide him towards Renjun's door himself with his hands on his shoulders, if only so it would wipe that silly smirk from his face. Almost. 

Renjun's apartment was small and modest, like most student living, but decidedly cleaner than ones Donghyuck had been in before. He led them through to the kitchen table and they sat, Mark and Donghyuck one side with Renjun opposite. It looked more like a job interview than a client discussion.

"So, let me explain how this works," Mark started. He pulled his notepad in front of him and read off the notes. Donghyuck had this speech memorised by now. "It's not guaranteed. Donghyuck and I have powers that will _help_ people get together but we can't force it. Feelings are complicated, you know, and humans are too. We can alter reality and insert clues and plant evidence but we can't shoot arrows in their butts and that be the end."

Renjun blinked. "I thought cupid angels have arrows, though."

Donghyuck cleared his throat. Mark did too. "Seniors are given them to use in emergencies only. But I have to admit– I've failed my Advanced Archery exam three times."

"Me too," Donghyuck said quietly.

The look that flashed upon Renjun's face was full of regret.

"But don't worry," Mark assured. "We have a 95% success rating. The only reason it's not 100% is because humans are terrible decision makers."

Renjun still looked like he wanted to forget this interaction, but nodded. 

"Here's what we propose," Donghyuck said, sat up straight and slid the paperwork across the table. Renjun eyed it in silence. "We get rid of the ex first."

Donghyuck snapped his fingers. Renjun's eyes widened in alarm.

"You're not going to hurt her, are you?"

Mark concealed a smile with a cough. "Um, no. We're angels, we physically can't do that. What Donghyuck means is, we'll use enough magic to _help_ her fall for someone else. We can then use just a little bit more to _help_ Jeno and Jaemin realise their feelings for each other. Make sense?"

Renjun blinked. From where they sat, they could practically hear his hesitation, but he did eventually agree. 

"Where are Jeno and Jaemin right now?"

Renjun glanced at the clock on his phone. "Both in class. In an hour or so they'll be meeting each other in the library coffee shop."

Mark and Donghyuck shared a look. "Alright, thank you Renjun. We'll get to work. We'll be in touch."

Donghyuck put on the friendliest smile he could muster and held out his hand. Renjun seemed suspicious of it, but shook it anyway. Outside, after the walk down twelve flights of stairs which felt considerably easier than going up, a breeze pushed them together for warmth.

"So, do you want to get coffee with me, Mark?" 

"Sounds perfect," he said. 

🏹

It had been a long time since Donghyuck stepped foot in a coffee shop; unless he had to visit headquarters for classes or he was working away with Johnny, his own cheap, functioning coffee machine at home did a pretty good job of waking him up for a fraction of the price, but he was with Mark and on very important business.

"Large non-dairy latte with a caramel shot and three sugars, please," he said.

Mark blinked next to him. "That's so much sugar, dude."

Donghyuck simply smiled and took his latte and sugar sachets gratefully when they were ready, and found a table to sit at not too far from the entrance so they'd be able to see Jeno and Jaemin come in. Mark joined him moments later with a simple, modest white coffee. Another one of their stark differences.

All around them, students sat solo or in groups in various states of disarray. One particular table had a pile of books higher than the person's head. Donghyuck pulled a face at that.

"So," Mark started. He took a sip of coffee so water clinged to his lips and made them shiny. Donghyuck couldn't stop looking at them. "You failed archery too?"

Donghyuck willed himself to stop staring at Mark's wet lips.

"Yeah, Johnny says I can just keep retaking the class until I pass the exam. But I know all the theory, I know everything, I just– can't get the aim right. I end up hitting other people." 

Mark nodded solemnly. "Me too! I can't understand how others pass first time. Like there are so many variables and it still works for them."

"Seriously," Donghyuck agreed. "I had an exam on the calmest day of the year. No wind or rain or anything. All my arrows missed."

"Damn," Mark said. Donghyuck gestured to his still-shiny lips and Mark wiped them with his sleeve.

Much better.

Jeno and Jaemin arrived at the hour just like Renjun said, attached at the hip and with arms full of papers and books from whatever class they attended beforehand. Mark was halfway through a long spiel about his most complicated case to date while Donghyuck tried his best to keep up – some kind of enemies to lovers scenario last year that he and Taeyong jointly managed for close to five months, though Donghyuck got a little lost on the details because he was too busy watching Mark talk animatedly with arms in all directions. Donghyuck interrupted with a gentle nudge and a point, which luckily Mark understood without the need to turn around and stare.

"So, they're queuing," Donghyuck mused, eyes following them so Mark could make written notes on the observation. 

"They're getting drinks to go," he continued. "I'll fix that." With the quiet click of his fingers, the barista swapped disposable cups for ceramic ones without so much as batting an eyelid, and a couple rose from one of the occupied tables and moved elsewhere. 

With nowhere else to go, Jaemin and Jeno slipped into the seats made empty just for them and Donghyuck smiled smugly in Mark's direction. 

"I cancelled their classes for the rest of the day too. They won't be going anywhere for a while. But we probably shouldn't use any more magic or they'll get suspicious." 

Mark laughed, and as he did his cheekbones rose up to his eyes, his nose scrunched at the sides and his front teeth poked out from under his top lip. It was the brightest and purest thing Donghyuck had seen from him in the last two days, and if they were heaven angels he would've envisaged him with a halo and church bells playing in the background, and they wouldn't have been out of place. 

Donghyuck found himself smiling, softer than he should've been. 

🏹

Getting the ex out of the picture was surprisingly easy. 

Donghyuck took the liberty of studying the suitor list for a person with any similar personality traits to Jeno, found the first person on the list to be a pretty close match, and carefully bent the rules to make sure they would both be in the same location at the same time to meet each other. It was a chance meeting – Donghyuck arranged for them to both attend the same nightclub one night but he also knew Jeno needed to see his ex have fun with someone else, so he called Renjun to explain his plan, who agreed to persuade Jeno and Jaemin to go by pretending he had no idea the ex would be there too.

"Impressive," Mark said over the audio of his computer. His tone of voice was entirely genuine.

"So clear your diary this Saturday," Donghyuck said. "We're going out." 

He hadn't expected this question to make Mark _beam_ , but it did. He shouldn't have been so happy about working on a weekend, especially as mere trainees, but he was. Even through the shitty wifi and video quality, Donghyuck could see a sparkle in both Mark's teeth and eyes, and like the first time it dazzled him just enough to steal a breath from his lungs.

He stretched on screen, leaning back so far in his recliner chair that his tie flopped onto one shoulder and stayed there when he sat back up. It was charming and ridiculous at the same time. 

When the call ended and Donghyuck could only stare at his reflection in the black screen of his laptop, he brought his hands up to his mouth (covered by the wrists of his hoodie) and sighed into them. Stupid Mark Lee and his stupid misplaced optimism and his stupid overt professionalism. 

Donghyuck didn't intend to take the assignment so seriously, so he showed up to the club on Saturday evening wearing simple sweatpants and a t-shirt, the same clothes he had been wearing all day. He had cancelled his original Saturday night plans of watching Netflix in his pyjamas in favour of being crammed into a dark room of sweaty, drunk humans, so he was bitter and damned if he wasn't going to make as little effort as possible.

Mark, on the other hand, did not have the same thought. Just like everything else he did, he _excelled_. He showed up outside the club in the most un-Mark clothes Donghyuck had ever seen him in, so out of character that Donghyuck assumed he had been cloned by a demon. 

"What are you wearing?" Donghyuck gaped. He pointed an accusatory finger at Mark, which made him dip his head and look down at his clothes in confusion.

"Does it look bad or something?"

Donghyuck blinked. Now he thought about it, _really_ thought about it, Mark didn't look bad at all. Just enough skin poked out from the rips in his black jeans and a dark green bomber jacket covered the graphic tee of some obscure band Donghyuck had never heard of. For an angel, especially one so ordinary and unassuming on the surface, he looked sinful. Any words he did have died on his tongue along with his coherence.

All he could do was shake his head. For Mark it was enough. He pulled another one of those stupid, full-face smiles that looked out of place given the outfit he wore, and joined the queue like nothing happened. 

Donghyuck gaped at the back of his head and waited behind him, watching the way the light from a street lamp nearby hit the residual hairspray in his hair like he had walked through glitter. It only added an extra layer to this devilish look he had going on and it made Donghyuck scowl.

Renjun had emailed Donghyuck earlier confirming they would definitely be at the club at the right time, and Donghyuck already knew Jeno's ex was here as they passed her near the door, so that meant his magic worked as her new date would be here too. He coughed into his fist outside and clicked his fingers at the same time, and inside two separate people who had never met both walked to the bar.

Mark turned, got dangerously close to Donghyuck and whispered. "Did they meet?" 

To an outsider it would have looked like Mark was kissing his cheek. The thought burned him and he stepped back in panic, onto the feet of the person behind him. 

"Ow, fuck, I'm so sorry–" He mumbled an apology, face flushed. 

Mark watched the whole thing through those big, curious eyes (which Donghyuck now noticed he had lined and shadowed to make some sort of smokey look in the corners, which definitely wasn't helping matters). 

"Do I smell bad or something? Why did you step back so fast?"

Donghyuck wanted the ground to swallow him up. He would rather go to hell and battle with a demon than continue with this conversation.

"Huh? No, Mark, you're fine. Seriously fine."

Adding to the anguish in Donghyuck's insides, Mark gripped the collar of his t-shirt, pulled it back from his neck and sniffed it. 

"But to answer your question, _yes_ , they met." 

"Great," he said, lips melting into a grin. "Show time."

🏹

Show time was, in theory, Mark and Donghyuck sticking together just far enough away from Jeno's ex that she wasn't suspicious of them watching her, and far enough away from Jeno and Jaemin that they didn't catch on either. In reality, the inside of the club was packed far too tightly with people that they couldn't see anyone but each other if they stayed on the dance floor, so they grabbed a drink each (Donghyuck insisted that if he was going to sacrifice his Saturday night for this assignment he may as well have fun with it, so he bought a triple vodka and coke while Mark went a bit more simple and just bought one single beer) and migrated off to the side, an area slightly higher than the rest so they could at least see over heads. 

Renjun had made subtle eye contact a little before they left the dancefloor, so Mark pointed to the bar where Jeno's ex and her new date were talking in plain view, and Renjun nodded. The plan was simple: Renjun would suggest getting drinks, Jeno would follow, see his ex and then go back to Jaemin, complete with the knowledge that she had moved on. This had worked in his old assignment graded by Johnny, so Donghyuck was almost one hundred percent certain this would have a similar outcome.

He grabbed him and Mark an extra drink (Mark complained that he bought him something way too strong with too many ill-fitting flavours, but Donghyuck didn't want to be the only one drinking, especially since neither of them were really supposed to) and dragged Mark back to the dancefloor when one of his favourite songs was played.

"We're supposed to concentrate, Donghyuck. We have to oversee this," he protested.

Donghyuck stood on the steps and looked into the crowd. Further away, Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin danced in a group with drinks in their hands. Jeno had his eyes on his ex, watching her from a distance. Donghyuck shrugged.

"We can't use much more magic, Mark. It's too risky. And Jeno already knows she's here with her new date. It's fine. We're here, we can have fun. Now drink that and dance with me." 

Donghyuck gripped one of Mark's wrists while he held his cup in the other and tugged him back into the crowd. He weaved around people to lead Mark somewhere into the centre, keeping his drink close to his chest so he wouldn't drop it, and when they stopped and Donghyuck turned to face him, Mark had a look of hesitation on his features.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" 

"Not scared, but you know we're not supposed to drink. You know how angels are–"

Someone bumped into Mark and sent him surging forward, arms-first into Donghyuck's chest. The wind flew out of his lungs and he clutched the front of his t-shirt, trying to catch his breath. His hand accidentally let go of the cup in shock and he now stood in a puddle of fizzing cherry pink liquid which had already started to soak into his pants and shoes.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, someone pushed me. I didn't mean to, are you hurt–?"

Donghyuck shook his head. He felt heat rise up to the tips of his ears and hoped in the dim light of the club that Mark couldn't see it.

"I'm fine, Mark. Let's just…" He shook the alcohol from his fingers, wiped the rest on his already-wet pants (Mark pulled a face, but he ignored it) and left the dancefloor with as much grace as he could muster, with almost all of his lower half stained in pink.

Thankfully the men's bathroom was empty otherwise Donghyuck would've misused magic to get everyone out; Mark followed him in a few seconds later. Donghyuck stood at the sinks with the faucets running, cocked his leg up onto white porcelain and tried to clean the pink stains from his pants. 

"Do you have a spare pair?"

Donghyuck looked at Mark through the mirror. He fiddled with the cuff sleeves of his jacket, nerves in strict contrast to how confident he appeared in it. 

"Of course not, who brings spare clothes to a club?" 

Mark bit his lip. He reverted back to the soft-spoken nerd Donghyuck was used to in his video calls.

"I only live five minutes away…" he said. Donghyuck paused his motions of untying his shoelaces to listen to him. "I have spare ones, if you want to borrow them. At least so you don't have to go home in wet clothes and catch a cold."

The implication was innocent, and yet Donghyuck's fingers slipped from his shoelaces in panic and he held onto the bowl of the sink to stop himself falling over completely. _Of course_ Mark would be nice enough to offer him dry clothes because _of course_ there wasn't a single spiteful bone in his body. But he was heading into unknown territory; Donghyuck liked to keep co-workers as secret as possible, close but never enough, and visiting them at their home was a line he never wanted to cross.

The liquid seeped into his socks and shoes and he could feel it between his toes. No taxi would let him in as wet as he was, he wasn't allowed to fly and walking wasn't an option. Donghyuck never wanted to be desperate, but his desire to remain at the club had vanished. He didn't have much choice.

He locked eyes with Mark's figure in the mirror. Throughout Donghyuck's internal monologue he had slowly migrated towards him, arms outstretched awkwardly like he wanted to help but wasn't sure how. "Thank you, Mark. It's really appreciated," he said. 

So he turned off the faucets, brought his leg down from the sink and left a trail of pink footprints as he followed Mark out of the bathroom and from there to the exit, paying no mind to the dancefloor or bar as they left. It had turned cold in the February air and Donghyuck shivered as they stepped out, the heat of the club behind them and midnight heavy above them. 

Like he promised, Mark did only live five minutes away, on the second floor of a bright apartment building painted red on the outside and yellow on the inside. 

"Interesting colour choice…" he said, eyes adjusting to the assault on them. Mark smiled.

"You get used to it. My actual apartment isn't this bad, I promise." 

Mark's apartment was small but decorated in neutral colours so it didn't make Donghyuck feel sick, not like the hallways. By the time they ascended the third flight of stairs Donghyuck's tummy had started to squirm, though it could also have been the alcohol. 

It was simple, just like Donghyuck expected. In the corner of the living room stood a clothes airer sporting various items of clothing which made the entire apartment smell of fabric softener. In another corner, a fish tank with one single goldfish in it. The only thing out of place was an obviously used glass on the coffee table with an askew TV remote next to it. Neat, tidy, clean. An extension of Mark himself.

Donghyuck thought of his room at home. He shared the chores with Jaehyun but his own room was his responsibility, and suddenly he was embarrassed of his unmade bed, pile of unwashed laundry (which Jaehyun agreed to do tomorrow), skin and face products chaotic on top of his chest of drawers. Extension lead in the socket next to his bed with all the electronics in his room plugged into it at once. Donghyuck wasn't messy by any means, but he and Jaehyun had been roommates a long time and he was the only person who went in there besides himself. It didn't matter. 

Stupid Mark, showing him up once again. Exposing him without meaning to.

Donghyuck eyed a certificate hung on the wall. It was Mark's certificate for passing his Cupid Angel 101 class, their very first exam as apprentices. Donghyuck had passed it too, but his own certificate was hidden somewhere in his closet. The fact that Mark framed it and displayed it proudly was oddly charming; it made Donghyuck frown.

"Nice place," he said idly, with eyes in all directions.

"Thanks," Mark said. The room fell into silence, though Donghyuck’s ears hadn't stopped ringing from the club yet.

"So, uh," Mark cleared his throat. "Do you want to shower while you're here? Or just take some clothes and go?"

Donghyuck's heart thumped beneath his chest. Everything was so wonderfully sweet and domestic that he was worried he'd start glowing. And since Mark was the reason they left (only technically, since it was clearly an accident) he was going to enjoy pushing his luck just a little bit.

"A shower? If that's okay," he said.

Mark smiled and headed into the bathroom. "Sure, I'll get you some towels and turn the water on. A warning, though. If you move the shower head the water will either freeze or scald you so… try not to hit it with your hands or anything."

He spent the next few minutes grabbing towels and spare clothes from the closet, and putting new bottles in the holder to replace his used shampoo and soap while Donghyuck stood awkwardly in the living room by himself. It wasn't like he minded, Mark was already kind enough to offer when they barely knew each other, but one of Donghyuck's absolute hard rules had been broken and it made him nervous. He knew Johnny better than he knew Mark after years of being trainee and mentor, but he would not go to Johnny's home willingly, not unless he had to. They were _colleagues_. It was for the best.

Mark came back in the living room and held the door open to the hallway. 

"Towels and clothes are on the toilet seat! And temperature set on the water but if you want to change it just move the second faucet up or down. But, yeah be careful of the shower head. And I'll just... be here if you need anything."

Donghyuck blinked and squeezed past Mark in the doorway with a smile. "I think I can manage a shower, Mark, but thank you."

Mark flushed and shut the door with a nod of his head. For the first time since they started working together, after almost one whole week of knowng him, Donghyuck flustered him back. Seeing the slow rise of pink on his round cheeks and the urgency in which he looked away, it brought giddy feelings to Donghyuck, much more than he anticipated. 

As Donghyuck stood under the water and the uncomfiness washed away with it, he thought about how stupid Mark looked with his plain white shirts and plain black ties on his video calls, how he either overexplained or overreacted and never in between, how he laughed with his whole body, how he looked like a bad boy's fantasy in his outfit tonight, like he had been dancing with the devil himself. Donghyuck had his fingers in his hair massaging shampoo into his scalp when he stopped, gasped (the sound of which was swallowed by the running water) and opened his eyes.

It was obvious. Either Mark was just being kind or he was oblivious if he couldn't see it himself. Donghyuck had never been subtle with anything in his life, and being a cupid angel he could mostly get away with it. Having a crush was for humans, though; without it he wouldn't have a job. Without fragile human emotions this wouldn't exist.

But Mark was outside this room somewhere, probably doing something normal like feeding the fish or washing the dishes. If Donghyuck hadn't come out today he would be sat in his pyjamas, eating chips in bed and not moving until duty called. Donghyuck kind of hated him for that (not really) because he made Donghyuck look unprepared and childish, but at the same time he wanted to reach his standard for the satisfaction of beating him at his own game.

Donghyuck washed Mark's cherry-scented shampoo from his hair and rested his forehead on the tiles. Stupid Mark and his stupid, cute smile and his stupid, non-judgemental attitude and his stupid general put-togetherness. Stupid Mark and his cherry shampoo and matching cherry body wash, broken shower and cotton towels that smelled of lavender. He got out after washing himself too and stood in front of the mirror for a while, gathering the guts to go back into the living room to see Mark again after his shower revelations.

He dried himself and towel-dried his hair and dressed in the clothes Mark gave him from the closet. He gave him a pair of black knee-length shorts and a Utah hoodie (Donghyuck was surprised he even owned, considering he could not picture him wearing it at all) which fit perfectly. 

He dropped the towels in the laundry basket as he left and went to face the music.

In the twenty minutes Donghyuck showered, Mark had changed clothes. The cocky club outfit was gone, replaced by white shorts and a white t shirt and white socks, and he had taken off his makeup so his face was bare and shiny though his hair was still mostly styled the same, odd parts sticking up in angles like a sprout atop his head. This was more like it, the look Donghyuck associated him with in his head, but he still looked (for lack of a better word) _cute._ The kind of clothes perfect for a cold February morning, cuddling and doing other mundane domestic activities like baking or watching movies. Donghyuck's heart flipped in his chest before he could control it.

"Hey," Mark said as Donghyuck walked in. He wore glasses over his nose too, the round ones that fit his face perfectly.

"Hey, thanks for the shower. I should probably get going now before it gets too late." 

Mark tilted his head and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was five minutes to midnight. 

"Be careful. Are you sober enough to fly?" 

Donghyuck honestly forgot that he even drank, that the reason he was even here was because of alcohol. 

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. I stopped feeling sick way before I got here." 

Mark looked at him closely, skeptical to see if he was lying. Donghyuck stepped back involuntarily. 

"Okay," Mark spoke in a soft voice. "Get home safe." 

Within five minutes Donghyuck kicked off from the rails of Mark's balcony, jumped and floated in the air while his wings kept him there. Mark actually _waved_ at him with one of his bright smiles, like a tiny crescent moon on his face and through the corner of his eye as he circled the building to fly home, he watched Mark close his balcony doors and draw the curtains, safe and sound.

The skies were clear of other angels and mostly cloud-free so Donghyuck flew home pretty quickly, landing on his own balcony some fifteen minutes later. Jaehyun was awake and playing something on the TV in the living room which he paused when Donghyuck walked in from outside. 

"Hey, good night?" 

Donghyuck glanced down at his borrowed clothes, a plastic bag of his old sodden clothes hanging around his wrist. "Could've been better."

"Those aren't the clothes you went out in, what happened?" 

Donghyuck's cheeks burned. "I dropped a full cup and it went all over me, Mark let me have a shower and borrow his clothes." 

A pause, and Jaehyun's eyes narrowed in realisation while his lips curled up into a tiny smirk. "Right… Sure."

"I'm telling the truth!" 

"Uh huh. You're glowing. I know how angel bodies work." 

Jaehyun wasn't an angel himself, but his girlfriend was. Donghyuck pulled a face at the implication, threw the bag of wet clothes at Jaehyun and told him it was his turn to do the laundry. 

And then he went to his room, blood pooling under his cheeks from Jaehyun's inappropriate questioning, and just as he sat down on the mattress and plugged his phone in to charge, it vibrated with a message.

 **From:** Stupid Mark Lee

_Did you get home safe?_

Donghyuck picked up the nearest pillow and screamed quietly into it before he could answer.

 **To:** Stupid Mark Lee

_yeah, thanks for the clothes, ill wash n give them back to u_

**From:** Stupid Mark Lee

_No pressure, whenever you remember :)_

Donghyuck sighed and almost ended the conversation there. Almost.

 **To:** Stupid Mark Lee

_goodnight mark_

And then, seconds later, the final message:

 **From:** Stupid Mark Lee

_Goodnight Donghyuck :)_

🏹

Donghyuck woke up the next morning at 11am with a headache, a crick in his neck from sleep and over 25 missed calls from both Mark and Renjun, plus email notifications on his home screen and several texts from many people. Before he even really had the chance to open his eyes a feeling of dread had set into his stomach and he opened his phone with caution.

 **From:** Stupid Mark Lee

_Good morning! We have an emergency._

_Things did not go as planned with Jeno and Jaemin after we left. They fought because of Jeno and his ex and Renjun is threatening to tell Johnny and Taeyong._

_Call me when you're awake._

**From:** Huang Renjun

_donghyuck, please explain why u and mark left last night before the magic wore off. aren't u supposed to stay and watch over the assignment?_

**From:** Huang Renjun

_are u still asleep? is that why u aren't answering the phone?_

**From** : Stupid Mark Lee

_It's 11am, are you still asleep? Answer your phone please, this is urgent._

**From:** Johnny-hyung

_donghyuck? we need to talk. please call me when you can._

And suddenly Donghyuck remembered exactly why they were there, the very reason he had sacrificed his Saturday night. They were supposed to be working but in trying to fix Donghyuck's dilemma they broke the one fundamental rule in cupid angel dynamics: never take your eyes off an assignment. 

Donghyuck sat up, put his head in his hands (both to steady dizziness and out of pure shame) and sighed into them. He'd fucked up because he hadn't even been awake to bear the force of it unlike Mark. 

He typed back a single, sad reply to Mark. 

**To:** Stupid Mark Lee

_mark im so sorry_

And to Johnny, he typed the same thing. 

**To:** Johnny-hyung

_johnny im so sorry_

He ignored Renjun's. He had no idea how to fix it without digging himself a deeper hole.

Within minutes, Mark called him. Donghyuck reluctantly answered.

"How much trouble are we in?" 

Mark's laugh came through the speakers. "Not gonna lie, loads. But it's okay, I managed to talk to Renjun already and he is giving us a second chance, but he already told Taeyong and Johnny. I couldn't stop him doing that, I'm sorry."

Donghyuck sighed and took a few seconds to answer. "I'm sorry, Mark. This is all my fault. It was me who wanted to dance."

"Yeah, but it was me who suggested we leave. I'm in trouble too." 

Donghyuck had never broken a rule, had never had his professionalism questioned because Johnny knew how he worked better than anyone else. There were days he hated the job and days he loved it, but even on the days he hated it he would never let a client down, not to the point where the client would tell his mentor what a terrible job he was doing. Donghyuck wanted to cry.

"I should call Johnny. He's probably mad." 

Even with his career in question Mark was still calm. "Taeyong too. But it was a mistake. I bet they made them."

Johnny wasn't _mad_ , just disappointed, but that was worse in Donghyuck's eyes. He'd never given Johnny a reason to be disappointed in him, at least not until now. It hurt. He did give Donghyuck pointers on how to fix the mess though (by concentrating solely on repairing Jeno and Jaemin's now broken relationship) and reminding him that he could go to Mark's apartment at any time, but preferably not when they're supposed to be working. 

Donghyuck couldn't even deny that. Johnny obviously knew the reason why he had been distracted. Taeyong must've told him, which meant only one thing: Mark talked to Taeyong about him too. For a tiny second he imagined Mark's face as Taeyong asked why Donghyuck was there; he hoped it was as embarrassing for him as it was when Jaehyun couldn't keep his thoughts to himself.

For the rest of the day he sulked and took his energy out on cleaning his room and doing the laundry even if it was Jaehyun's turn, just to avoid thinking about Mark and the mess they accidentally created. He kept the hoodie and shorts on until he had to take them downstairs to the laundry room, then threw them into one of the machines with his sodden clothes from the night before. Donghyuck almost didn't want to wash them as the smell of Mark's detergent was much nicer than his own but the earlier he gave them back the earlier he could pretend that none of this ever happened and hopefully never talk to Mark again. 

It was stupid of him to develop feelings for a fellow angel. Feelings were for humans. Angels lead simpler lives. 

(Nevermind that Jaehyun's girlfriend Jinsoul was an angel herself. She had chosen to be a guardian, though. She had to have feelings. They were not the same.)

🏹

Heavy with guilt, Donghyuck sat at his laptop at exactly 8am, armed with two steaming mugs of coffee which he drank simultaneously, and watched as his emails loaded. Johnny had sent him another message of encouragement titled _Remember what I told you! You can do it!_ which he deleted without opening. Renjun had emailed him several times over the weekend which Donghyuck didn't check because he wanted to avoid dwelling on the mistake, but he had no choice now that he was working his regular 8-5. The first was late on Saturday night, around the time when Donghyuck would have already been at Mark's apartment, explaining what happened. Jeno saw his ex with the person Donghyuck set her up with, got weirdly jealous and protective and Jaemin got jealous of Jeno's attention and they fought, badly. The next, in the early hours of Sunday morning as he apparently consoled a crying Jeno. The next, in daylight hours on Sunday morning asking for an explanation. The last, around 2am last night when Donghyuck had been wallowing on the couch with Jaehyun and Jinsoul while they tried their best to help him feel better. But the last email was different to the others. It _thanked_ him.

 _donghyuck_ , it read. _i'm sorry for the late email. i know you don't normally work sundays. firstly i'd still like an explanation as to why you and mark left early yesterday (i hope nothing serious?) but i also should thank you. it wasn't intended but jeno and jaemin had a long talk this afternoon about their relationship and it spurred a confession from both of them. they're going to take it slow, but right now as i type this they're holding hands on the sofa and speaking in quiet voices. whatever magic you did on them today worked, i really thought they were going to take longer than this. once again thanks for all your help. renjun._

Donghyuck blinked. His cursor hovered over the 'reply' button but he couldn't find the words to write when he clicked it. Instead, overwhelmed and confused, he video-called Mark.

It was obvious Mark hadn't been expecting a call because for the first time since they started working together, he wasn't wearing his normal white shirt and black tie combo. To Donghyuck's surprise he wore a red t-shirt and his gold-rimmed glasses and he looked far too tired for someone who was hard work embodied. 

"What happened? Why aren't you wearing your shirt and tie?" 

Mark smiled, looked down at himself and then back to the camera. "Just a late night. I overslept." 

Something about it wasn't right. Mark seemed like the type to set an alarm and wake up straight away. 

"I had an email from Renjun. He said Jeno and Jaemin made up and everything's fine."

Mark smiled again and covered a yawn with his right hand at the same time. "I knew it would work out! We don't have a 95% success rating for nothing."

Donghyuck squinted. "He said something about magic. But I didn't use any magic yesterday… I wasn't even working at all."

Mark went silent, scratched his nape and looked at his lap. Donghyuck slowly pieced the puzzle together in his head, taking Mark's silence as an answer.

"You did it." 

His sheepish smile was a dead giveaway.

"But… you didn't have to. We could have made a start on it today. Together."

Mark coughed. "I know. But I felt bad, especially because we only used your magic so far. And I knew you felt worse about it than me. So…"

He shrugged, rising the sleeves of his t-shirt so the skin of his arms peeked at the camera. Donghyuck briefly glanced at them, then back to his face. His smile was warm, welcoming. Inviting. Donghyuck's insides turned to mush just looking at it.

"Thank you, Mark. Really. I appreciate it."

The laugh that sounded through the laptop speakers was equally as warm. There was no reason for him to laugh but he did it anyway and his happiness made Donghyuck smile, infectious. 

As part of a class last year all apprentices had to learn about human love languages. The five ways romantic partners express love. It was nearly always applied to their assignments in context (Jeno was very obviously a 'physical touch' while Jaemin was a 'words of affirmation') but Donghyuck took the quiz himself out of curiosity. It decided 'acts of service' was his strongest. 

No one had ever done what Mark did. Stay up late. Break routine. Ease the burden. Donghyuck couldn't say anything.

Maybe he wasn't so stupid after all. Maybe he never meant to show Donghyuck up, highlight all the ways he wasn't good enough. Maybe he didn't care about winning and he simply just wanted to be nice.

After work that night, after Donghyuck spent a few hours typing up their case notes to send to Johnny to review, he flew to Mark's apartment with the dry clothes in a plastic bag around his wrist. The hideous interior did nothing except make him run up the stairs faster, and Mark answered with a surprised smile and invited him inside. 

"Do you wanna get coffee with me, Mark? Just us this time, out of work hours. No clients. No magic." 

Mark's love language was clearly 'quality time'. It wasn't a shock when he said yes. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/inj4nie?s=09).
> 
> also thanks to haru for betaing for me!


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